


fish out of water

by songbird97



Category: Free!
Genre: First Date, Fluff, M/M, also very different storyline from canon, kind of a future fish AU, rin is nosy, rin never went to australia etc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-18 06:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12383019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songbird97/pseuds/songbird97
Summary: Haruka doesn't enjoy blind dates. That's the thing. That's the problem.





	fish out of water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [littlev123](https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlev123/gifts).



> "Rin sets up his chef friend, Haruka, with a fireman he's worked with on a lot of calls. Ensue cute first meeting between Haruka and Makoto!"
> 
> it's that time of year ........... i really enjoyed writing this! i've actually never stretched my makoharu wings beyond a drabble or two, so this was honestly a blessing and was so much fun to write. @requester, i hope you like it. <3 i slightly deviated from the prompt in the sense that their first real meeting is due to rin, but they do otherwise meet beforehand. hopefully that was alright~ and happy birthday makoto .... orca bae.

Generally speaking, unless he wants something, Rin never calls him this much.

He should know better, too, that Haruka not only hardly ever takes his cell phone with him when he leaves his apartment but also that when he does it's almost always on silent. Reaching him, by any other means than standing right in front of him and flailing around a bit (in Rin's particular case and also sometimes Nagisa, which isn't necessary and isn't _always_ amusing, for that matter), are pretty much futile. And Haruka's made it that way on purpose.

So his cell phone is quietly blinking when he gets home, the notification of half a dozen missed calls staring him pointedly down. Alright, maybe he should take it with him more. "One day I'll be calling about something important," Rin's said in the past. "One day I'll be dying on your doorstep and you won't know it, because your phone's on silent across the room."

"If you're dying on my doorstep," Haruka's said in return, blank expression locked and loaded, "just knock."

But Rin wasn't strewn across the threshold when he'd crossed it to get inside, which means he's either dying somewhere outside of Haruka's general vicinity or he wants something, neither of which Haruka necessarily has the patience to deal with after a workday. He checks the clock and knows that Rin's on patrol by now, works the graveyard shift on weekends and probably just started up his cruiser. He'd hate to get a call back any later than this, but maybe he should have thought about that.

Thirty minutes later finds Haruka on the floor with a bowl of soup in the hand not making the call, and Rin answers after the first ring.

"I hope you know that you're the worst," Rin says in place of a greeting. Haruka blinks.

"That was quick."

"You sure fucking weren't. I'm on my way to a call, Haru."

"If it's important, we don't have to talk. I'll hang up."

"Don't you dare," Rin warns, and Haruka pins back a smirk even though Rin wouldn't see it anyway. "I know you planned this shit, you little—"

"What do you want, Rin?"

Rin grunts, and it comes through as static. "I don't want anything. In fact, I'm calling you for a favor I'm doing for _you_."

Haruka lowers his bowl of soup to the floor. "Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better."

"I mean it, Haru! It's something I'm doing to be nice."

"Of course it is."

"I'm serious."

"Of course you are."

"Will you _listen?_ "

"Of course I will."

Rin goes quiet for a satisfyingly long amount of time. Silences with Rin are rare, but when they happen Haruka can almost remember why he ever thought it would be a good idea to be friends with him in the first place, if he ever thought that at all. It's easy to forget, in between his loud abrasive attitude and his scheming that too often lands Haruka in situations far too awkward for someone with his level of social anxiety. Or anyone with functioning humility, for that matter. When Haruka actually bothers to beat Rin at his own game and shut him up, it's a nice reminder of their high school days. 

But all the niceness bleeds out when Rin says, "I'm setting you up on another date."

Haruka opens his mouth, then shuts it again. He wants to say,  _What?_ and he wants to hang up, and he also wants a new best friend. "Excuse me?"

"I have a friend on the fire department. Hot but too _nice_ to be my type. Also a cat person. Wouldn't work out, y'know? I don't care how nice of a body he's got—dick _included_ —it's not worth waking up to a face full of cat hair and hearing hissing in my nightmares. ... Haru, you there?"

"I'm processing."

"Don't be so dramatic. You'd like him. And he'd like you, weird eccentricities and all. He's a _doter_."

Haruka frowns. "I don't need a _doter_."

"I don't mean it like that, for fuck's sake. I just mean he'll probably find all your weird shit endearing. When I told him I've had to stop you from climbing over fences into private pools since we were twelve he actually said you sounded  _fun._ Sousuke nearly choked to death."

"But he didn't. Too bad."

"Hey, I'm doing you a _favor_ here, you know. You're a catch, Haru, but not a lot of people see that right off the bat."

"I don't need anyone to see it."

"Or so you think," Rin says; Haruka can hear his grin right through the damn phone. "Anyway, just wanted to let you know. I'd tell you more about it but this is such a bad  _time._ "

"Rin," Haruka says.

"Maybe if you'd called earlier—"

 _"Rin,"_ Haruka says.

"His name's Tachibana. I'll let you know more about it later—it'll probably be sometime next week. He'll pick you up at the restaurant."

"Rin, don't—"

But the dial tone's the only thing that hears him, so his glare finds the wall across the room and the words die on his tongue.

 

 

While he berates Rin for putting him into these kinds of situations, Haruka only ever runs into people he might actually be interested in on his  _own_  on his worst days. Really. It's sort of a curse.

It started in culinary school, when he was getting a little older and maybe started to think being  _with_ someone wasn't too troublesome of an idea. The girl he often worked with in class was nice and smart and attractive, and every time he thought about maybe doing something about it he'd flip a bowl of frosting onto himself, slip on spilled flour and barely catch himself, forget to brush his hair and end up looking like he hadn't slept in a week. She'd laugh at him and they'd stay friends, and the problem persisted with others.

He's always been able to look presentable on dates. The problem, the thing that drove him crazy, was it took a hell of a lot to  _get_ there, if he were doing all the work himself. In hindsight, that's probably where Rin felt it necessary to start intervening. Meddling. Whatever.

Haruka thinks of this the following night after Rin's call for no other reason than that he's had a long day at work, forgotten an umbrella and been drenched from head to toe, and ends up standing in line behind the hottest guy he's seen in months at a cafe.

Some things never change.

In the few short minutes they've been in line he hasn't even fully turned around, but Haruka knows he's hot. Knows in the way he holds himself and laughs with the friend he's with, by the line of his back and cut of his hips. He knows a lot of it must have to do with the fact that it's been a while since—well, anything. But Haruka has always had a problem with people who are attractive just in existing, and this one's no exception. 

They get through the line and move down to the other end of the counter. Hot Guy's still laughing while his friend gets his drink and heads to get his jacket from a table, and Haruka catches one side of his face, sees the creases around his eyes and the pink in his cheeks, and looks away. His first mistake. His second comes when he continues not to look, and doesn't move out of the way when Hot Guy gets his own drink and abruptly spins around.

He must catch a dip in the floor or trip over his own feet, because one second his voice is carrying past and the next he's slamming into Haruka's chest, knocking him back a few steps. Haruka loses his breath, but reacts fast enough, just catches himself on the counter and blinks.

"Oh my god," someone says. Haruka's thinking something similar, though he doesn't even have the energy to feel embarrassed. The same voice, belonging to the body Haruka's been so preoccupied with, says, "I'm so sorry."

Haruka looks up, opens his mouth, but doesn't get the words out in time.

"Are you alright?" the guy starts asking, quickly, hands out in front of him like he's worried he'll trip again. 

"I'm fine," Haruka says, abruptly. Green eyes, he thinks. _Okay_.

"I'm so, so sorry. I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going—I didn't spill anything on you, did I?" 

"No," Haruka says. He tips his head to the side. "Are you okay?"

He only asks because the guy looks like he just stepped on a small dog. He gapes and says, "I'm—I should be asking you that!"

"You already did," Haruka points out, then finally stands up straight again. "I didn't fall. It's fine."

"That's—" he lets out a laugh, and it sounds very startled. He is, however, starting to physically calm down. "That's sort of a low bar."

"You didn't hit it either way," Haruka says. "I mean it. Don't worry about it."

"Still," and he's starting to wring his hands, "I—"

"Makoto!" the friend calls, and they both turn to look; he's at the door and holding it open, already shielding himself from the rain. He clearly didn't catch what happened.

Hot guy—Makoto?—looks torn. They must be in a hurry. Haruka says, "I said it's alright."

Makoto turns back to him, eyebrows pinched together. "If I wasn't in such a rush—"

"If it ever happens again, you can buy me a coffee," Haruka says. Thinks he says. Did he just say that? Makoto's expression certainly looks surprised enough that he must have, and Haruka wants to jump over the counter and hide there forever.

"Okay ... okay. Deal," Makoto says, though, mouth a hesitant smile. "I'm sorry, again!"

Then he's heading for the door. And then he's gone. And Haruka's left still dripping, still without coffee, still socially inept, and maybe with a new bruise below his shoulder. And there goes the first good thing that was kind of a mess, but wasn't his fault.

He really can't catch a break.

 

 

Haruka doesn't enjoy blind dates. That's the thing. That's the problem.

He tells Rin as much when he forces his way past the kitchen staff and finds Haruka at his station two days later, leaning over the metal counter and breathing all over the pastry dough. "It's not a  _blind date,"_ he's saying. "Not really. You know who he is and what he's like, just ... not from your own experience."

"And I'm supposed to trust yours," Haruka deadpans.

"When have I ever steered you wrong before?" Haruka imagines the expression he makes must be just as ridiculously incredulous as he feels because Rin actually winces. "Okay, fair. But I'm talking about dating, specifically."

"I'm single, is that a good enough reflection of your abilities?"

"So none of them stuck, whatever. None of them were _terrible_ , either."

As much as Haruka hates to admit it, even to himself, Rin's actually right about that. He's never picked anyone awful. In fact he's picked a few  _good_ ones, at least in terms of the night that followed the dates he went on. But he can find those on his own, and the upside to that is he can choose to find them when he's actually in an active  _mood_ for it. Never mind actual romance, which he's never had very much luck in and doesn't see why this time should be any different.

He thinks of green eyes and a failed opportunity, then picks a mound of dough up and drops it again, kneading into it with a little too much force. He says, "What if I don't want any of them to stick?"

"Then you can be happy in your isolation for the rest of your life and die blissfully alone. But fuck if I'm gonna let that happen without meddling at least a little."

Haruka huffs, then lifts his chin to look Rin in the eye. "Why do you care?"

Rin looks back, even and unsurprised. "Because you're lonely, Haru. You're not as good at hiding it as you think you are. Not even from yourself."

"I'm not—"

"And even if you're not, then because he is. And because I think you two would be good together," Rin says, rolling his eyes. "I'm not doing this to be annoying, Haru."

Haruka stares. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Mostly, anyway."

"Mostly," Haruka murmurs, shaking his head. "I don't need to date someone to be happy, Rin."

"But," Rin presses, leaning forward, "you're not saying no."

Haruka stops kneading, hands frozen over the dough. He lowers them gently, then exhales through his nose. He might be crazy for it, but, "I'm not saying no."

"Good," Rin says, then grins. "He swims, you know."

Haruka tenses, then tempers all of his energy into a glare. "Leave, Rin."

Rin raises both hands, then points to the door. "I'm gone."

 

 

It happens again when he's at the market that weekend; for canned tuna, of all things, not even for himself but for the cats that never seem to let his fire escape be. He's piling about a dozen cans into a basket when he turns, and just barely convinces himself not to do a complete one-eighty.

He's at the end of the aisle, the hot one from the week before. Makoto. Haruka spends a few seconds just staring, looking at the line of his back and how it connects up to his shoulders, broad and cut straight across his neck. He looks just as put together as the time before, and it's been a while since Haruka's been this drawn to someone just from how they hold themselves.

Makoto sweeps a hand through his hair and grabs a box to throw into his own basket, then turns his back to Haruka and walks into the next aisle. But Haruka looks presentable today; it's early in the morning and it's all clear skies outside, the open aisle here an opportunity for him to take charge of his sorry excuse for a love life, for the first time in a while. He takes a few quick steps after him but then stops, thinks of Rin and his stupid blind dates and how nothing's ever worked before. Not for him. Not in the world of romance.

It's a sobering thought. Haruka feels his heart rate settle into something more neutral, something more like it always is. He—the hot guy, the ghost, Makoto—is already out of sight, and Haruka thinks that maybe it's for the better.

He sees him twice more in the next three days; once at the park, reading a book on a bench while Haruka's out for a run. The other walking by an antique shop laughing with the girl by his side while Haruka stands across the street, arms full of dry-cleaned clothing. He wonders how many times they'd crossed paths before and how many he didn't notice, and how long it'll be until he doesn't notice anymore.

Both times, though, are perfect times. And both times, Haruka heads in the opposite direction.

 

 

A small pair of hands slap down onto the metal counter.

"You have a _date?!"_

"Keep your voice down," Haruka says, shuffling past Nagisa hurriedly. "You have tables to wait on."

"And a date to hear about!"

"No, you don't. It hasn't happened yet."

Nagisa isn't so easily deterred. From atop the counter he leans both elbows on his knees and sways to whichever side of the station Haruka bustles towards. "It's been over a year since your last date! I really thought you'd given up on love, Haru-chan."

"This isn't about love."

Nagisa drops his mouth open. " _Haru-_ chan."

Haruka glares. "It's not about  _that_ , either. It'll get Rin to shut up for another year. That's all."

"But is he cute?"

"Don't know. Haven't met him."

"A _blind_ date!" Nagisa gasps.

"Unfortunately." Unfortunately. Haruka's been thinking about the word a lot these last two weeks. "You can ask me about it on Saturday when it's over with."

Nagisa frowns. "Haru-chan, you haven't even met him and you're already not giving him a chance."

Haruka pauses, then turns to look at Nagisa fully. "That isn't true."

"It is! You're too pessimistic."

"I'm not ..." Haruka sighs, "I'm not. But I'm also not looking for someone to date."

"You're never looking," Nagisa laments. "You never know, Haru-chan. He could be really excited to meet you!"

And, well. That's something Haruka hadn't really thought about. He shuffles in place for a second and says, "Maybe."

Nagisa laughs, quiet but cheerful, and hops off of the counter. "You should have more faith in Rin-chan, you know."

Haruka doesn't think that's true at all. "Why."

"Because! Because, he wouldn't set you up with someone you didn't like on  _purpose_. Rin-chan's a romantic, he—"

"Wants everyone around him to have some happily ever after," Haruka finishes. Nagisa's expression sours only marginally. "I know, Nagisa. I've had to listen to him wax poetic about romance since grade school. I know what he wants out of this."

Nagisa just shrugs. "If you say so, Haru-chan."

"I do," Haruka says, as Nagisa spins on a heel and starts out of the kitchen. Alone with flour on his hands and rice stuck on his sleeves, Haruka says, only mostly to himself, "I do say so." 

 

 

When Friday comes, he doesn't exactly spend his whole shift dreading the date, but he maybe spends most of it that way. Three different people ask him if he got enough sleep the night before, and he's actually sort of proud of himself for only looking sleep-deprived. It's been a long two weeks, filled with busy workdays and well-meaning smirks and far too much self-doubt. A date is, quite fittingly, the last thing he's in the mood for.

And when his date does show up, Rin comes in with him, because of course he does. Of course. But that's not what gets Haruka to stare.

Actually, the first thing Haruka thinks is something along the lines of  _Oh no_  and then something closer to  _Okay_ , because the person he's walking in with is the person who's been haunting him around town. Tall and smiling and far too delicate, the way he walks, brown hair and green eyes and strong build and too much right now, and also either the best or worst outcome Haruka thinks his patience could have handled. And the second he sees Haruka his expression flickers, dies, then regrows into something like relief.

The _oh no_ comes back around. Haruka just stares, the whole time, and can only hope that it doesn't turn into a glare when he catches Rin grinning beside him, as if he knows exactly why.

Rin must say something introductory when they make it all the way over, but Haruka only hears him say, "This is my good friend Haru." Then, turning to Haruka: "Haru, this is—"

"Makoto," Haruka says. Both Makoto's and Rin's expressions twist into surprise, but Rin's stays longer.

"Um," Rin says.

Makoto starts to fidget. "Hello again. Nanase-san."

Haruka huffs his laughter through his nose. At least he's making up for some of the shame Rin's severely lacking. 

"You," Rin says, pauses to look between them, rocks back on his heels, maybe does a cartwheel for all the attention Haruka's paying him, "know each other?"

Haruka says, "Not really."

"He's ..." Makoto says, starting to wince. "Rin, didn't I tell you about the guy I nearly knocked over in a coffee shop?"

Rin starts to look like he understands. Then he takes a largely dramatic step back, eyebrows going  _up_. "Oh," he says. "Nice going, Makoto."

"I didn't know it was him!"

"It doesn't matter," Haruka says. "You didn't do it on purpose."

"But—"

Haruka sighs. He's not going to go through the night this way. "Does this mean you don't want to go on a date?"

Makoto's mouth is still open. He snaps it shut, blinks, then speaks. "Of course not."

"Then don't worry about it."

He looks, for a second, like he's absolutely going to keep worrying about it. But his shoulders start to sink, and he pulls up a small smile. "Alright."

"Alright," Haruka echoes, then turns away. "I just finished my shift, so ... I'll need to change."

"Oh, sure! Take your time."

Makoto says it easily, and he's being genuine. Haruka takes a second to process, then nods and heads for his locker in the back. And as he changes all he can think is that he's grateful Nagisa didn't show up for this, otherwise he'd be getting an earful.

When he's changed and comes back out, the first thing he says is to Rin. "We don't need a chaperone."

Rin whistles. "So rude, Haru. And in front of your date, too."

But Makoto just laughs, saying, "Rin, he has a point."

And that's the end of that. Rin looks between them a few times before letting a defeated expression break through, cresting a smile. "I was leaving, anyway," he says. "Don't have too much fun, alright?"

"Goodbye, Rin," Haruka deadpans, and out the door Rin goes. He looks at Makoto and has to look slightly  _up_. "If you feel so bad, you can make it up to me tonight."

Makoto only looks surprised for a second, and then his expression settles. He says, easily, "Then I guess we should get going."

Haruka blinks, and then finds himself nodding. "I guess we should."

 

 

"So," Makoto says some time later, a few blocks down from the restaurant now and both their hands in their pockets. And Haruka doesn't know him well enough to be in a position to decide whether or not he's forcing small talk or is just wholeheartedly awkward, so he listens. "How did you meet Rin? It sounds like you've been friends for a while."

Not terrible, Haruka thinks, makes a noise of affirmation. "We met at a swim club, in elementary school. We ended up going to middle and high school together, but before that we only knew each other because of swimming."

"I should have known," Makoto says. "Rin says you swim freestyle."

"And only freestyle," Haruka adds, looking at him sidelong. "What about you?"

"Backstroke. I never liked having my face in the water when I was little, so it kind of stuck."

Haruka glances at the span of his shoulders once more, the strength in the length of his spine. Then he says, "That explains things."

"Sorry?"

"Nothing," Haruka says, and allows himself a fleeting smirk. "Rin told me you're a firefighter. Is that how you met?"

"Oh, yeah! We've worked together on a bunch of calls."

"More saving cats from trees than bad things, I hope."

Makoto laughs. "Sometimes the worst things build the best friendships. It's a good part of the job."

Haruka asks, "Are there a lot of bad parts?"

And Makoto smiles, although it looks considerably more uneasy. "Trying to yank the demons out of my closet already?"

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," Haruka says, and Makoto laughs. "Is Rin slightly more tolerable when he's actually doing his job?"

Makoto looks pained for a second, and then releases a rumble of a sigh. "Slightly," he affirms, and Haruka's hit with the urge to laugh, too. Then he says, "You have a nice smile."

As soon as he points it out, Haruka tempers it. But as it sinks a flurry arises in his chest. "Thanks."

"Sorry. I guess you probably hear that a lot."

That makes Haruka want to laugh for an entirely different reason. "Not really."

After a short silence, Makoto clears his throat. "I, um ... I set up dinner reservations in case you wanted—but I know you work at a restaurant, I mean, obviously, and you just got off so I understand if you don't—"

"Dinner sounds good," Haruka says. Makoto looks ready to burst.

"Okay," he says. "I'm glad."

Haruka watches him for a bit. Then he blurts, "You get nervous easily."

Makoto lets out a startled laugh. "And you're very straightforward."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing."

"Neither did I," Makoto points out, smiling still.

Haruka wonders if it ever goes away. "Okay," he says. "In that case, where are we going?"

The answer is apparently a tiny place on a corner Haruka's never seen or heard of, which is more or less a good thing. Better than the crowded, loud ones he's been to before, or the expensive ones that have made him want to strangle himself on a woven napkin in the past. No casualties tonight, it seems, though maybe he's got less of a chance if Makoto plans on looking at him like this the whole time: half-smiling and hair falling forward like he'd tried to style it back but just couldn't get it to stay. 

"So," Makoto starts saying, and so it starts again, "did you always want to be a chef?"

Haruka blinks, making a decision. Then he asks, "Can I be honest with you?"

Makoto looks startled. "Um. Sure? I mean, yes."

"I hate blind dates."

For a second the surprise sticks, and then fades into something like relief. Makoto leans forward. "Me, too."

"And I'm bad at small talk."

"Me, too," Makoto laughs. "But I think it's a necessary evil, don't you?"

"Maybe. Sure. I never really wanted to be anything. I'm good at cooking, and between doing that and art, restaurants pay the bills better," he answers swiftly. "I thought about swimming, a little. But it ... spoils it. For me. I'd rather do something I don't mind for work and do something I love for myself."

"Wow," Makoto says, blinking. "Okay, that's ... wow."

"I don't have a favorite color. I'm partial to seafood. The question 'are you a dog or a cat person' personally offends me. I don't really want kids and I don't care about marriage, and I'm quiet because I like to be." Makoto has started to look vaguely amused, so Haruka stalls. "What?"

"Nothing," Makoto says quickly. "Just ... this is new."

"Did I miss anything?"

"No, I think you about covered it."

"Okay. Your turn."

Makoto makes a noise, then starts to nod. "Okay ... I have a brother and a sister. They're twins, younger than me. I'm also offended by that kind of question, but I'm better at taking care of cats. I have two. I'm the only firefighter in my family and I probably have the most dangerous job, but I like it. It's exciting and makes me feel like I'm doing something good, or ... giving back, I guess. I like kids but I don't know if I'd have any. Marriage sounds nice? ... You're a lot better at this than I am."

"Not better. Just quicker," Haruka says. "If your friends were annoying enough to set you up on as many dates as mine do, you'd get into the habit."

"Good point," Makoto says.

"Now that that's out of the way," Haruka sighs. "Tell me something different."

"Something you wouldn't normally cover on a first date, you mean?"

He catches on fast. Haruka raises an eyebrow.

"This was a lot easier with you giving an example first," Makoto says, sounding nervous all over again. "Um. I failed a math class in high school, once."

Haruka stares. Very carefully he says, "You are terrible at this."

"I told you!" Makoto laughs; it's contagious, really. Haruka hides his grin behind his glass of water. "Your expectations of me were too high!"

"They really weren't," Haruka says, "and even still ..."

"You are ... not very nice," Makoto bemoans, leaning back in his seat. Haruka just shrugs. "Help me?"

"Fine. I have a birthmark shaped like a star, but I didn't know about it until I was twenty."

Makoto's eyes flash with interest. "Really? How didn't you notice?"

Haruka continues nursing his water, says, "It's on my ass." Promptly, Makoto chokes on air. "Someone pointed it out to me."

"Oh my god," Makoto eventually manages, voice thick. "Okay."

"Your turn. Again."

"Again," Makoto says, gravely. "Okay. I once broke my foot standing still."

"Better," Haruka says. Then asks, "Is that possible?"

"Apparently! I swear I hadn't done anything to break it. I was signing a form at work and something just ... popped."

The waiter comes with their food and Haruka barely notices. "I almost got hypothermia once, swimming in the springtime."

"That sounds like something that was definitely your fault."

Haruka huffs. "I just wanted to swim. It didn't feel that cold."

"Rin hasn't been kidding about you," Makoto says, and then straightens when Haruka frowns. "Not that it's a bad thing! I just mean it's something you care about. And like doing. A lot. Clearly. Am I making this any better?" 

"You're not making it any worse," Haruka says.

"Oh ... I suppose that's better than the alternative." Makoto takes hold of his chopsticks but just sort of twirls them a bit. "I've only been on one other date. Before this."

That gets Haruka's attention, if nothing else has. "You mean ..."

"There's a reason I'm not good at this."

"Are you lying?"

"I'm not. I'm ... really not."

It explains why it felt like he was forcing conversation, if the fact that he felt bad for knocking into Haruka wasn't reason enough. But still. "Where did you live before moving here?"

"An ocean town, like yours and Rin's. But a little further south."

"Is everyone blind there?"

Makoto goes still, like he's trying to decode what Haruka's just said. Then the tips of his ears start to go red. "Oh. I mean, no! Of course not, I ... um, thank you."

Haruka really almost can't believe this. He leans back, feeling a little defeated, and asks, "Why?"

"If you couldn't tell, I'm sort of a nervous person."

"I could tell."

Makoto smiles halfway. "I don't approach people I'm interested in easily. And they find it difficult to approach me ... so, I guess that's why."

Haruka blinks. "People find you difficult to approach?"

He starts to look a little embarrassed. "... Girls don't," he says. "They'll talk to me."

"And?"

"And," Makoto says, looking Haruka in the eye. "I'm on a date with you."

Oh, Haruka thinks. Then, a voice sounding far too much like Rin's in the back of his head: _duh_. "No girls at all, then."

"Not for me," Makoto shrugs. "You?"

"It's never really mattered." Haruka leans forward a bit. "Do guys not approach you?"

"If they do, it's not because they're interested. I guess this part of me surprises most people." Haruka makes a noise. "What about you?"

Haruka lifts an eyebrow. "Have I been on a date before?"

Makoto laughs. "No, I got that part. I guess I'm asking how many? Is that rude to ask?"

"Too many," Haruka says. "And I don't think so."

"Something tells me you aren't offended easily, though."

Haruka blinks. "What gave you that idea?" And Makoto laughs again, and it's contagious again. Haruka doesn't smile but feels something  _good_ pulling at him from the inside out, and he maybe shows part of a smile in his eyes. "I probably wouldn't go on so many if it weren't for Rin. He's ... upfront about these things."

"I noticed," Makoto says. "But I'm starting to think it's maybe not a bad thing."

Haruka takes a second to understand, and now it's his turn to be caught off guard. He catches Makoto's eyes, shining brightly, and breathes. "Fair enough."

When they finish dinner, they stall outside the restaurant. Makoto asks, "Want to go somewhere else?" And Haruka has no reason to say no, so instead he says yes.

He's grateful for it being summer when they end up at the park, because it means he's more than fine in just his shirt. In fact it's nice to be outside, nice to feel the wind after being kept in a kitchen all day; it's almost easier to breathe.

Makoto must think so, too, because he says, "I don't ... do this as often as I should. Take walks, I mean. I forget to do things like this, a lot of the time."

Haruka gives him a look, like,  _where are you going with this?_ And the message must deliver, because Makoto laughs.

"I know. You don't need to hear this, sorry. I'm just reflecting."

"I don't mind," Haruka says. "I didn't know what you meant by it."

Makoto goes quiet for a minute, eyes on the sky. "I guess I mean I get caught up with the other parts of my life? You know ... work, friends, family. They're all important to me, but I never do things like this. I never even try anymore."

"Things," Haruka says, "like—"

"Just walking around, for one," Makoto says, and then confirms, "and dating, too."

Haruka doesn't know what he's supposed to say, or if he's supposed to say anything. In fact he kind of feels like this is the beginning of a _this was fun, but this isn't going anywhere_ talk, because he's gotten those plenty of times before, and he still doesn't know how to predict them. But he does know that Makoto's reflecting on something that's probably very personal, and therefore definitely too personal for a first date; he blurts, "I kept seeing you everywhere."

Makoto startles, turns to look at Haruka. "Sorry?"

"After the coffee shop," Haruka says; he wishes he had the excuse that his mouth was running on auto-pilot, but he truthfully thinks he should say this. "I saw you out in public three more times. I wanted to ask you out."

Makoto's eyes have widened. "Oh."

"I didn't, though. If you really are bad at approaching people, you're not the only one." Haruka breathes, then turns away. "I didn't even know you, but I always talked myself out of it because I don't have a lot of luck with dating and I didn't think you'd be any different."

"That's," Makoto starts, stops. "Oh. Okay?"

Haruka huffs. "I'm trying to say that if this isn't working for you, it's fine. It's out of your comfort zone. You don't usually do it. And I get it. I didn't have my hopes up anyway, so you don't have to feel bad about it."

"That's not—" Makoto says, too quickly; he touches Haruka's elbow and leans down to meet his eyes. "That's not what I was saying. At all! I was just ... oh god, it sounded really bad, didn't it?"

Haruka watches him, mouth slightly open. He asks, "What, then?"

Makoto starts to shake his head, stepping fully in front of Haruka. "I meant that I should start making time for this. Kind of thing. Dating, I mean. With you, if ... if that's okay?"

Something inside of Haruka's head clicks off, then whirs back to life again; it's a kick in the ass, the realization that he never stopped being as utterly pessimistic as always. Slowly, he asks, "Are you asking me on a second date?"

"I ... yes. Yeah, I am. To start, anyway," Makoto says, decisively. He's quiet for a few seconds, then clears his throat. "Are you going to answer?"

A fantastic question. Haruka isn't so sure himself. He tries to answer, anyway, a few times; the first couple all that comes out is air, but eventually he manages an, "Okay."

And Makoto sinks, and also lights up, and also dims into something warm. Haruka looks at him and doesn't know when or if he'll ever get tired of doing it. "Okay. Can I walk you home?"

"Yes," Haruka says. Makoto smiles wide, and he smiles back.

It is, in the end, a much shorter walk than Haruka would have liked. He surprises himself thinking it, knowing that he was ready for this night to go in any other direction than this kind of comfortable silence, this kind of warm swell. They don't talk the whole way and somehow that's alright; Makoto keeps looking at him, keeps looking away when Haruka tries to look back. The redness sitting on his cheeks never seems to go away, and Haruka finds it a lot more endearing than he should, probably.

And after all of his stumbling, on Haruka's front steps he so easily says, "Goodnight, then."

It makes Haruka feel easy, too, nodding as Makoto turns away. He waits until he's a building or so down before he calls out, "It was my turn, earlier."

Makoto stops and turns, a bemused tug to his expression. Haruka holds onto the banister.

"You shouldn't feel bad about only having one first date," he says, keeping his face as flat as he can. "I've never been asked on a second one."

Makoto's expression fades into something deeply comprehensive, and Haruka starts to walk up the steps before he can watch him turn away again.

He leans against the door when he's inside. He feels tugged on, and floaty, and grounded. And he almost wishes he did watch Makoto walk away, because this time he knows he'll see him again.

 

 

"Haru-chan, you're _glowing._ "

Haruka scoffs, plants his hand on top of Nagisa's head and gives it a gentle push when he walks by. "I'm not glowing."

"You kind of are," Rin says, out of uniform and off-duty and yet somehow still where he shouldn't be, ducking out of the way as other chefs bustle past. He's smiling even wider than the night before.

"Neither of you should be back here. Leave me alone."

"I work here!" Nagisa whines.

Haruka says, "You work out in the dining room. You're only supposed to be back here for orders."

"And think of how much work I could be getting done right now if you'd just tell me how your date went."

"I told you it went fine."

"Fine can mean a million things coming from you," Rin interjects, and holds up a hand when Haruka turns to glare at him. "And I don't have anywhere else to be. Plus your manager likes me. Now spill."

"Can't you bother him instead?"

"Of course I can. I have Makoto penciled in right after I'm finished bothering you."

Haruka stops right where he is, tray in hand and burning through his oven mitts. "We had dinner and then he walked me home. He asked me out again. It was—"

"If you say  _fine_ one more time you're gonna be a hell of a lot less fine, Haru."

But Rin's smirking, so Haruka ends up doing the same. Nagisa cries, "A second date! Haru-chan, that's great news!"

Haruka comes up next to Rin, sets the tray down. "I think so, too."

Rin whistles. "Get this on record, Nagisa. He's confessing."

"Get out," Haruka warns, digging his elbow roughly into Rin's side. "Maybe I'll be in a mood to talk about it later."

"Offer acknowledged," Rin says, rubbing at his ribs exaggeratedly. Haruka stares, and he rolls his eyes. "Offer taken. But I'm holding you to it."

"Of course you are. Now leave me alone."

"Come on, Rin-chan," Nagisa laughs, getting a hold of Rin's wrist. Rin begrudgingly follows, successfully towed out, and Haruka gets his first quiet moment since his shift began.

He almost expects Rin to be waiting for him at home when he gets there, so he isn't surprised when night falls, he walks his way home, and there's a silhouette leaning up against the banister. But just when he's piecing together something to say, he works out that the lines are all wrong and that he recognizes the jacket, the shoes, and just about everything else, too; newly familiar, more and more so as he approaches.

"Um," he says, and Makoto's head snaps up. "Hi."

"Hey," Makoto says, standing up, hands going into his pockets. "I, um. I forgot something. To ask you something, I mean."

"Okay."

"It's—honestly, it's kind of embarrassing, but I didn't want to ask Rin and I didn't want to just not talk to you, especially because I asked you out again, and—what I mean is, I forgot to ask for your number last night."

Haruka blinks; he doesn't know which part to respond to first, so he picks one at random. "You didn't want to ask Rin for my number?"

"Well, I ... I didn't know when I'd see him next, and ... honestly, he'd just never let me live forgetting to ask for your number down. And I didn't want to just text you or call you without you knowing who it was, or without me asking you for it, because that seems kind of ..." he starts to gesture, but then he stops and drops his face into his hands. "You probably wouldn't have cared, now that I think about it."

But it's endearing, so much so that Haruka feels it swell up in the center of his chest. He walks the rest of the way to the steps and starts to climb. "I can give you my number."

Makoto peeks through his hands. "Okay." Slowly but surely he takes out his phone, placing it in Haruka's palm when he holds his hand out. "This was sort of creepy, wasn't it?"

"Only sort of," Haruka says, distracted as he taps away. Then he hands the phone back. "There."

Makoto breathes, pockets his phone. "Thanks. Sorry."

"Don't be. Were you waiting out here for a while?"

"No, I—I've actually only been here a few minutes. I stopped here before work."

Haruka starts to nod, and keeps nodding as he thinks. Thinks that Makoto must have been thinking about him, or must have wanted to text him or call him in the single day that they haven't seen each other, and then loses track, a little, of how his body is moving at all. They look at each other, and Haruka has no idea what it is but it is enough of  _something_ , fills something in him that brims with intention. He takes the last step up to stand beside Makoto and says, "I'm glad you came. I forgot something, too."

Makoto must be getting better at this, because his confusion only lasts for a second before it melts away and he chuckles. "You don't have to make me feel better about everything, Nanase-san."

"Sure I do," Haruka says, raising an eyebrow, and Makoto laughs again. "And you can call me Haru."

"Haru," Makoto echoes, his smile framing it nicely. Very, very nicely. "Alright. You can call me Makoto, then."

It's so absurd, and he must know it—Makoto is all Haruka's known him as, even if it hasn't been very long at all. Haruka shakes his head, a laugh in the back of his throat. He stifles it to say, "I'm going to kiss you, Makoto." And then he leans up, and he does.

Makoto makes a noise, muffled at the roof of his own mouth; Haruka presses it open with his own and touches his waist, and Makoto touches the small of his back. His mouth fits deeply against Haruka's and stays, and Haruka thinks as coherently as he can that he made the right choice. 

He doesn't quite have to get up on his toes to reach, but he does sink a little when he pulls back. Makoto looks stunned and there's pink sitting on his cheekbones, and Haruka is very glad he came. 

He says, "Have a good night at work. Saving cats from trees and all that."

"I'll save all the cats you want," Makoto says, sounding a little dazed. Then he snaps back into it, reddening further. "I mean. Goodnight, Haru."

"Goodnight," Haruka says, watching Makoto turn away and walk very quickly down the steps. 

He walks away, head ducked down like he's staring at the sidewalk. It could be like any other time before Haruka's seen him walk away, but it's not—he reaches the corner and turns around, and he smiles. Then he disappears.

Haruka stays out on the steps for much longer. His hands twitch at his sides, warm from something they're no longer touching. When the feeling wears off, he goes inside.

His phone is on the counter, and as the door shuts behind him, the screen lights up with a notification. He doesn't have to look, because he already knows. But it's the fastest he's ever run to read a text message regardless.


End file.
